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One of the reasons The Phantom Tollbooth has attracted such a cult following over the past 50 years, I believe, is that author Norton Juster was, for many years, a phantom of sorts. At least, it seemed that way to his readers.

I fell in love with the book as a 10-year-old and, for years afterward, scoured encyclopedias and library card catalogs (if you are under 30, you can Google that term) for any scrap of information about the man and desperately hoping to find more of that wonderful, witty, wordplay-filled writing. At some point, I found The Dot and the Line, a charming picture book of sorts, but that was it.

As best I could tell, Phantom had sprung into being the like some kind of mythological deity, the chapters possibly carted down from Olympus in a succession of conveyances, rigs, charabancs, chariots, buggies, coaches, broughams and shandrydans.

Left without any kind of sequel to the story, and lacking any direct insight as to what the author was trying to do, a young reader starts scrutinizing the words ever more closely and relishing the story even more, and the bond between book and reader grows, and grows, and grows, until the sentences fuse into the very neurons of his impressionable mind, so that even in middle age, he finds himself answering any cry of “Wait!” with the reply “Thirty-four pounds!”

I mention all this as my introduction to this brief summary of his latest appearances in Dallas — his second and third of the past year — so that you are perfectly aware that on this matter, there is the slightest of chances that my journalistic objectivity might be overwhelmed by affection. Which is why officially, I attended these events as a fan. But if you’d like to read my report from that perspective, click on the jump.

Start shining your little princesses’ tiaras in time to greet Rapunzel, Tiana and Cinderella when they arrive in the new Disney on Ice show. Also heading this way: Anne of Green Gables at Dallas Children’s Theater, Phantom Tollbooth author Norton Juster in a Dallas Symphony Orchestra family concert, Mary Poppins at Bass Hall and the new Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey show at American Airlines Center.

Some great family shows and programs are coming up — Anne of Green Gables at Dallas Children’s Theater, a musical adaptation of The Phantom Tollbooth and other works by Norton Juster with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Mary Poppins at Bass Hall and Disney on Ice Presents Dare to Dream at American Airlines Center. I’ve got all the details in my Looking Ahead column here.

PHOTO: Rapunzel, Tiana and Cinderella don their skates as Disney on Ice Presents Dare to Dream showcases scenes from Tangled, The Princesss and the Frog and Cinderella from March 28-April 1, 2012 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Seen here is Rapunzel and Flynn. Photo from Disney on Ice.

Take out your calendars and mark the dates! Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music is heading to Verizon Theatre along with an all-new Sesame Street Play Zone where kids can play an hour before the show, a new puppet production of Young King Arthur at Dallas Children’s Theater, a touring production of Mary Poppins at Bass Hall and Norton Juster at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for a composition inspired by The Phantom Tollbooth and more. I’ve got all the details in my Family Fun Looking Ahead column here.

PHOTO: Sesame Street Live will offer a Sesame Street Play Zone for kids to play in before the show

LOTS of fun stuff coming up for kids in February and March. The top five on my list: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble at the Eisemann Center in Richardson, Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music at Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie, the Kathy Burks Theatre of Puppetry Arts production of Young King Arthur at Dallas Children’s Theater, Norton Juster at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for a musical adaptation of The Phantom Tollbooth and Mary Poppins and her chimney sweeps stepping in time at Bass Hall in Fort Worth.

Get out your calendar and start jotting down the dates. Target is hosting Breaking Dawn parities, Norton Juster is heading to town, kids going to the new Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music show can play on Sesame Street Live’s new Play Zone, DCT is presenting The Secret Life of Girls and Casa Manana has Charlotte’s Web coming up. I’ve got the details in my Family Fun Looking Ahead column here.

It certainly looked like one while I was there. I was on hand in civilian attire — which means, I attended with my 10-year-old and 5-year-old, and didn’t take notes. But I saw a full house in the 330-seat Horchow Auditorium for Norton Juster (interview here) and saw long, long lines for Rick Riordan (interview here).

I also heard of happy encounters between Riordan and several young adnirers, and I ran into a fellow Phantom Tollbooth phan … er, fan who was positively beaming after getting her books signed.

For years, I’ve thought that Dallas deserves a first-class book festival, similar to what Austin enjoys each fall with the Texas Book Festival. If the good folks at Arts & Letters Live can build on the momentum from this year, they could have the makings of one.

Author Norton Juster, whom I wrote about in Sunday’s print editions, said enough during the course of our 90-minute interview to fill two stories. Maybe three.

One of the most interesting lines that ended up on the cutting-room floor was about boredom. (Being interesting about boredom — I think that’s an irony he would appreciate.)

He had implied that he had been bored as a student — which, given his later displays of intellect, I found remarkable. And then he elaborated on his upbringing. Parts of this comment ended up in the story, but the whole remark is here:Continue reading →